With warmer conditions in the morning before the rain swept over the Wimmera, players were prepared to play in wet weather, and in the eerily silence of no crowds.

At North Park, Swifts hosted Harrow Balmoral, where Roos got off to a flying start on the court, with shooter Kirby Knight proving troublesome for Swifts' defender Erin Freeland.

Knight, paired with Lucy King, managed to pile on a 19 to 11 goal first quarter, which put pressure on the Baggies.

Pushing through the steady rain that was coming down, the Roos were impressive in their transition down the court and made the most of each turnover.

Swifts A Grade coach Kristy Dodds said it was their ball movement in attack, where her side struggled.

"It was a tough battle against Harrow, who we knew would test us being fourth on the ladder," she said.

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"It's been our first match in the wet and that didn't work to our advantage unfortunately.

"Despite the outcome, our defensive game was impressive and it felt like Harrow had to work hard to get the ball down into their goal ring.

"It was our attacking game down the entire court that let us down this week. .

"Our main focus now is to regroup and move forward onto next weeks game against Pimpinio and aim to get back on the winning side especially leading into finals."

The Roos went into the main break with a handy 14-point lead, 34-20, but in the third term, the Roos' goalies were on fire again with another 15-goal quarter squashing any hope the Baggies had of a comeback.

In the end the Swifts fell 60-35 and will now set their sights on facing the winless Pimpinio.

In round four, the Swifts defeated Pimpinio by 19 goals, and with the race for the finals a sitting on a knife's edge, the Baggies will need to complete a similar performance to ensure they are ready for September action.

Over on the field, the Swifts were outclassed by a Harrow-Balmoral side that is making an ominous run towards September.

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The Swifts started strongly, kicking the opening goal of the match via Todd Matthews, but in damp conditions, the Roos went to another level in the second term kicking 8.3 to 0.0 to establish a 53-point lead.

In the second half the rain settled in and the game turned into a slippery battle.

Led by coach Brett Hargreaves and the experienced Nick Pickering, the Swifts steadied and rallied to restrict the Roos to just six goals in the second half, with a 71-point gap the difference at the final siren.

The loss is a costly one for the Swifts, who now sit seventh on the ladder and out of the finals places.

But with a favourable match-up against the struggling Pimpinio in round 12, the Swifts will be hoping to get back on the winner's list to keep their finals chances alive.

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